Is There Technology Arbitrage in Africa? (via WhiteAfrican) – Erik Hersman posted an article on his blog where he pondered the role of “arbitrage” in filling the “technology gap” between Africa and the West, or the gap between technologies and the laws that govern them. He seems to focus on the latter, where my attention in drawn by the former. I’m interested in this idea that rather than seeing Africa’s disconnectivity or lack of tech. infrastructure as an impediment, it should be viewed as an opportunity.

When considering this concept, I turn to what Ken Banks wrote recently in an article on the BBC about mobile innovation in Africa. He writes, “Innovation around the mobile phone is particularly interesting in Africa, often because it is born out of necessity.” CK Prahalad writes is his book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” about how operating in BOP markets forces firms and entrepreneurs to develop new creative solutions and innovations that can in turn have significant applications to the developed markets.

So returning to the concept of “technology arbitrage”, I think the unique environment in which African tech. entrepreneurs are coming from certainly provides them with a competitive advantage of sorts. They are driven by their circumstances to create low-cost solutions that carry a significant functional purpose. So long as the tools, such as incubators like Appfrica Labs, exist to bring these innovations to market, I believe African tech. entrepreneurs will play a significant role in shaping the way we use technology even in the West.